The Vancouver Riots: A Police Officer Speaks Out

#$@%!@!, he was there because he was paid, and for no other reason. A professional police force has only been in existence for under a hundred years. Whatever did we do before that. This is more of the "apres moi, c'est la deluge" attitude that those being paid with other people's money have when they fail miserably.

You’ll sleep soundly in your bed tonight because men and women like me will always be there to hand out traffic tickets for going 35 in a 30 zone or for the illegal u-turn at 3:30am in the middle of a deserted side street.

You have no idea how fortunate you are, even after we arrest and charge you for defending your home against aborginal protestors who are there illegally and physically assaulted you.

Even though you disgust me, if you call for me in the middle of the night I may or may not respond, depending on if it's a property crime or not. If it's a property crime, I'll possibly arrive a day or two later and give you some forms to fill out that will go into a drawer somewhere before I go back to handing out speeding tickets. Investigating robberies is like hard and stuff.

I likely won't protect your life because it's probably not safe to confront an armed and dangerous intruder while he cuts your head off and eats your flesh like that crazy Asian dude on the bus. Officer safety and all.

It’s right and it’s what I do.

Matt S: Feel free to express your opinions on here but please refrain from using profanity. This isn't a locker room. Thank you.

both Matt and slaw are right on the money as they say.

The police didn't do their jobs or we would have at least 1 dead car-b-que lighter on a slab in the morgue.

"dead car-b-que lighter".

Are they endangered?

Are we saving them for future disturbances?

Just askin'.

The cops are well paid for their jobs, you are all thoroughbreds but you are led by Donkeys. Fire Jim Chu, he is an idiot. Canadians need to start taking back the streets from the riffraff and the cops.

You’ll sleep soundly in your bed tonight because men and women like me will always be there to deal with your poor choices.

I'm with slaw. Our cops don't serve and protect, they write and collect. I'll "sleep soundly" knowing that I have a shotgun under the bed, and won't hesitate to shoot any uninvited "men and women". But thanks for the sanctimonious pep talk anyway, bitch.

Wanted to write something much the same as slaw....now, don't have to.

Gerald Celente a good rant on cops.

Celente - The American Dream is Gone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46p-nAkHZG0

Cops are part of the problem, not a solution.
Themselves, lawyers, judges, prosecutors and prison guards are a tightly knit legalized mafia, which works hard to increase their client base for the last 100 years by lobbying for further and further criminalization of mundane things.

Very few of you know that handloading ammunition has been virtually criminalized due to a provision that no person in the place where handloading occurs should have matches or lighters on their persons.

That means when you are rolling your own rounds in the basement for a trip to the range or hunting trip, you are criminally liable if your wife in the kitchen has a zippo in her pocket.

Welcome to Gestapo with a maple leaf.

Shawn at June 24, 2011 4:32 PM
Carlin was a good comedian but full of LSD. A cultures weakness is enhanced by dimwits whether police or public that think they can run rampant when drunk or no ones looking. All liberals think no one is watching. Most teachers are liberals, and when your sexual proclivities are taught over everything else, well.......

Surpise! It's the "freeman on the land" chat room. All personal axes ground to perfection!

Good thing cops are well paid 'cause its certainly not about the positive regard of these commenters.

Hey maybe they (VPD) had "agent provocateurs" in the crowd, so it really IS all their fault.

Grow up.

I am a FREEMAN, try reading the Magda Carta or the BNA just because they are old documents does not mean they do not have relevance.

I have very mixed feelings about the Police. When they are good, they can be very very good, and when they are bad... well, you know the rest.

"We sleep peaceably in our beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf." (George Orwell)

Very sorry to go off topc here ladies and gents but here is what our pilots in libya are supporting.

WARNING! Disturbing Graphic Video. Do NOT watch if you are offended by graphic real violence.

Graphic Video of Libyan Rebel Beheading Gadhaffi Soldier

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/06/23/the-ugly-truth-video-of-libyan-rebel-beheading-gadhaffi-soldier-cannibalism-rape-and-other-nato-war-crimes/

Welcome to Turdeaupia, where everyones rights trump the publics right to coexist lawfully and peacefully.

That screed was written by a cop who is more concerned with his/her rights than yours, their right to a peaceful evening at home, their right to soft-policing ie traffic tickets, and ride-arounds in an air conditioned cruiser.

slaw and max have the best commentary, the constabulary exists by consent of the populace that PAYS ITS WAGES and it would be kinda nice if they policed based on common consent.

Having said that, they are the front line and deserve our support when attempting to police a volatile situation as occurred during the recent looting spree.

The chief of police and the city government are clearly responsible for allowing the riot to occur, but, of course, nobody wants to be left standing when the music stops. Let's see if anyone loses their job over this fiasco. The whiney cops should be sniping up the chain of command. A mob is a mob.. they can happen almost anywhere. The problem isn't with the people in the street who weren't thinking clearly that night, but with the people in the offices who weren't (or were) thinking clearly in the weeks before the riot.

Face it, the police are emasculated politicized pussies who were incapable of maintaining basic civil order even when faced with every possible warning sign and the almost identical historical precedent of the '94 riot. Instead showing up in force, or preparing the area sanely, or even breaking up the large crowd immediately, a laughably tiny police contingent played babysitter to the facebook generation's tantrum while a small media army took record.

"We sleep peaceably in our beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on our behalf." (George Orwell)

Not so much anymore. We do meet and greet, not violence. And don't you dare use violence yourself! A thief's life is worth more than your property, and if you lose everything to a mob of rioters while the police stand by so as not to "provoke" the rioters, well that's the price to pay to live in a civilized society. Society will happily pay with your money, after all, and don't expect them to compensate you!

The small businesses that paid taxes and thought they were getting protection when they called 911 got a rude awakening. Their insurance won't cover damage caused in a riot and the police won't come if there's a riot, and you cannot defend your property. That's today's Canada!

I'm saddened by the fact that liberals have yet to point the finger at the real problem. Clearly the instigators are those evil swedish Sedin twins and their pathetically performing teammates! There at least as responsible for this riot as Beck was for the Giffords shooting!

Come to think of it, this riot was a complete benefit for the Canucks, who likely would have been mercilessly hammered in the local press for days after losing the Cup.

Unlike other posters, I somewhat sympathize with the cops, but then I think: why did you seek this job in the first place? And the answer for most is the same answer as if it was posed to a public school teacher: money & benefits.

Surely there are some cops who actually want to serve and protect, but they are muzzled by the majority who want to maximize pay with minimal effort.

Were any Timmy's vandalized in Vancouver?

Cops do what they are told. If they are ordered to stand down while someone is lopping body parts off a dead body on a bus, or terrorizing a citizen in Caladonia, they will. Let's not get carried away here. Cops are people and I respect them all for what they do. But they are tools of the state. And if the state decides your welfare is not worth defending, it will not be defended. And if the state decides you should be repressed, who do you think will carry out that order?

Sorry, but the chief of police and mayor of Vancouver should both be fired.

The cops themselves are much to blame, they forgot that they are just citizens who work for the public. They have been watching to much US Cop TV. And think they rule over us, while they have been tasering 80 year old men in hospital beds, tasering immigrants in airports, shooting people locked in jail cells, kicking people in the face who have surrendered and charging innocent citizens who dare to defend themselves and their homes. They are suddenly waking up to the fact, that the general public despises them now and fears them. The outcome will not be good for cops. When they are getting a beating on the street etc. and call for help. No one will come. They are out of control just like the looters in Vancouver.

I do wish police would stop elevating their role in contemporary society. I might believed the letter-writer had I seen most solid action during the riots. Now, not so much.

Some people are clearly not fit to be parents. I expect some simpering couple begging for forgiveness for their rotten kid.

It would seem from the posts here that many of you would have fit right in with the rioters.

A cop is like a proctologist or an urologist or an oral surgeon. You really don't want them to work on you, but when you need one, you REALLY need one.

BTW, this Yank is ready for another country to be the world's policeman. I hereby ask those countries (and neighborhoods therein) that decry that role of the USA to kindly step up and do the work. I'm tired of paying those bills, and even more tired about hearing protesters when I travel.

Or, at least be prepared to live with the consequences if there is no world cops. One can't ask the military to stop a massive slaughter on one hand (ie, Darfur), yet protest in the streets when they shoot those doing the slaughter.

It would seem from the posts here that many of you would have fit right in with the rioters.
Posted by: AtlanticJim at June 24, 2011 7:48 PM

Jim, you have utterly missed the point. The people here wouldn't have "fit in" among the rioters, we would have ended the riot and if some of the rioters were worse for wear, well, many of us here believe that crime against other people and their property should be costly to the perpetrator. We feel that when it's not, then society slowly spirals further down. When police won't investigate a break and enter with theft but can always be found at the local speed trap the our priorities are lost. That may not be the individual police officer's fault but they are the ones willingly carrying out the orders.

The first few comments are exactly what the letter-writer was decrying.

Thanks for proving you're giants asses and hypocrites.

The leadership tells police what and how to respond. The rank and file have to put up with your whining about how you weren't really speeding, and why didn't they respond immediately when your garbage can was stolen.

The leadership staffed enough police to handle a riot that was to have 30,000 people in the downtown. The fact that there were 150,000 people and five times the rioters expected isn't on the constables.

If YOU had to deal with the lowest of the low, like police do, you might not take to kindly to your suburban whining, either.

So, shove it.

we would have ended the riot and if some of the rioters were worse for wear, well, many of us here

Yeah, sure thing, Steven Seagal.

Well I am mystified...I never thought that I would see comments such as these on this particular blog.

I like Kate, I don't know her personally, but I like and respect her, and have supported her. And she provides a forum for those who wish to express their views in an open manner.

Being a former RCMP officer with 30 yrs in, I was doing what I did for the love of the job and the desire to make things better. Money and benefits never entered into the equation.

And for those of you who are scoffing at me and my fellows, I have a question:

Where were you when I was shot in the chest during a barricaded hostage situation?

Where were you when I was stabbed in the leg, severing my femoral artery, as I was attempting to apprehend a three-fold convicted murderer who had escaped from the Edmonton Max penitentiary?

Where were you when, in the in the first ten years of my marriage, I was able to spend a grand total of two, count them, TWO, Christmas mornings with my children, watching them open presents from Santa?

The other 8 years I was out there, dealing with bodies, especially one memorable Christmas morning when I and my colleagues were raking the forest floor for body parts.

Where were you when I was at the autopsy of a body that was so foul that the entire first floor of the hospital staff, above us, walked off the job because of the smell. I was there, where were you?

Where were you when, after apprehending a particular bastard who had abducted, raped, sodomized and then disembowalled, when she was still alive, a six year old girl, and I had to, in order to elicit a confession from him, had to hug him and say she probably enticed him?

And after that interview, I went home and burnt my then-new suit in the BBQ, because it was stained with the contact with this monster.

The answer of the "where were you" questions, is, of course, was that you were sitting on your fat asses passing judgments abouts matters you know nothing about. And, to add insult to injury, you have the temerity to criticise about something of which you are completely ignorant

Oh...and by the way, none of this was on overtime. I felt that I was risking my life for you, for what I thought was good reason...unfortunately, it appears I was wasting my time.

But if you guys are true to your beliefs, next time you are in trouble, have the integrity and do NOT call 911...otherwise, you're phonies. After all, if you folks are so in tuned with the inadequacies of the police, then have the moral fortitude to take matters into your own hands.

But you and I both know that, as you pontificate from your keyboard, you're pussies...

As for me, I am well trained, and well armed.

Good luck

"Even though you disgust me, if you call for me in the middle of the night I’ll respond. "

Dude you are nothing but an over glorified clean up service after the fact. 911 is tax stolen funded dial a prayer.
Your attitude disgusts me you sanctimonious, holier then us, the little sheeple, the little squirms who have no choice but to pay your inflated salary and benefits to hassle law-abiding citizenry for $$$$ to keep your masters the differing layers of government liquid.

Apart from that I am sure you and close family members think are a person.

Bruce, you're not the only one. I've been away all day only to return to what looks like commenters on an anarchy website.

Do the majority of Canadian conservatives really have as much antipathy towards police officers as is illustrated here or is this just an aberration?

I don't blindly bow down to any authority but I have always believed, and still believe that the majority of rank-and-file police officers in Canada are upstanding professionals doing their best under frequently difficult situations.

Have any of you ever lived in a 3rd World Country? I spent a year living in Mexico City. Most of the police there are thought to be corrupt. In fact, after just 6 weeks I was dining at an upscale Italian restaurant when the place was robbed at gunpoint. My Mexican friends were convinced the trio of culprits were off-duty policemen.

Is this REALLY what most of you think of Canadian police officers?!?

Hi Bruce, a p*ssie is 3 big armed cops tasering an 80 year old demented man in his hospital bed. Cops done that in Canada and got away with it. A p*ssie is 4 big RCMP officers tasering a man to death in Vancouver Airport and getting away with murder. A p*ssie is the RCMP officer kicking a man who has submitted and is on his hands and knees in the face. You and your ilk are the p*ssies, and the police forces today are full of idiots like you. That is why the average citizen fears cops now and many no longer support them. You are not above us, you work for us, you have forgotten that, its time you remembered that fact. Not that I support the rioters, I don't, but once again the p*ssie cops didn't do their job. Just like in Caledonia.

Robert

Yes this is increasingly what average Canadians think of police officers/ We know that they are just the arm of the state. You get prosecuted because the state wants you prosecuted. yet any number of your fellow citizens can do the same act and walk free as a bird. we know prosecution is selective and we are tired of it.

We also know they can't save us from any damn person who decides to do us harm, they can only show up later and clean up a mess, they left us defenseless victims, they don't want us to be able to protect our selves, our children, our families, hell no only they the special ones can do that, they leave us ready for the taking and we know they LOVE it that way.

There is no justice in this country, special groups can do as they please and the police tell you not to bother to call anymore because they ain't coming. it happened in Caledonia and it will happen again and again. But don't you dare go thru a stop sign and not count three full steamboats.....

Man the cop haters just come out of the walls.
eal Police are sandwhiched behind both an aggresive Union & an even uglier Political police Brass. Add in a soft Judicuary with delusions of meglomania. Sesitivity courses (So much like the chineses culterl reviloyion). Than being bullied by city hall for minority & none merit hiring. Add the math.
Police are only as honest as thier Bosses.
Political leasers have eroded this with every taunt. For they too hate all police.

Bruce - cut the pampered pets some slack. They have yet to realize that life is tough, and that ssometimes there are no roses.

For those of you channeling your inner shaidle, do realize that the alternative to a less-than-perfect quasi-corrupt quasi-authoritarian state is not libertarian paradise, but blood and ashes.

Poor dears. Despite all the evidence and denials to the contrary, they still believe that man is inherently good, and that it is the system, the MAN, that is the heart of the problem.

Quite strange...

I must admit, I'm surprised at the comments. I expected my opinion to go against the grain of police worship, but I was (pleasantly)surprised. The language of the letter writer is what disgusted me. He certainly seems to think he's superior to the average, tax-paying citizen he was hired to protect. That's right, his job is to serve and protect. He has no other function. He's there to take one for the team. For this, he deserves respect, and a decent wage. Not worship.

Good post Bruce. I didn't serve quite as long as you but had many similar experiences. No point in expecting the general public to understand it.
The cops are damned if the do and damned if they don't. There is no middle ground.

mike

The respect died after sitting on a jury.

I’m truly torn here.

My immediate reaction—as a teacher who deals with entitled, in-your-face young people—was to support the police. Absolutely.

I was really stunned when I read the first few responses. But then I couldn’t help but agree with the real, and, unfortunately, deserved antipathy to our police, who often let us down.

I’ve been watching Ezra’s show: he’s just interviewed Mr. Manzer of NB, who’s been charged, like many other law-abiding citizens—for defending his property from trespassing, violent young people: the law abiding citizen gets arrested and the kids get off.

What the heck is going on here? Teachers and police are being ordered to stand down all the time when dealing with the worst kind of miscreant. Teachers and police are under orders—it’s the law. Teachers and police who take on the bullies they’re “supposed” to deal with, are often disciplined by their superiors, who seem to have completely swallowed the PC kool-aid. The fall out of this dereliction of duty—which this most surely is—is becoming really seriously dangerous.

I believe that many on the ground teachers and police officers—like the one who wrote the letter here—are sincere, altogether beleaguered, and need support. But their deluded superiors are in La-La Land: they hang the rank and file out to dry all the time. It’s a mess. SNN seems to be willing to talk about this travesty. If we don’t make some serious changes—which we seem to lack the political will to do—we’re going to reach the point of no return.

I’m really sympathetic to the police officer here. But I’m also sympathetic to those who are pi**ed off with police inactions and actions. Something’s got to give . . .

SNN's talking about these issues all the time: if you aren't already, start watching!

Let me preface this by saying that I understand that the vast majority of police officers try their very best at their jobs. Because of the difficulty of their job, we must give them allowances for their actions- but because of the power they have, we must not allow them to abuse it.

I cannot support either extreme in this argument, but it suggests to me that the balance that once existed in our society has vanished.

I'll be honest- I am a law-abiding citizen (seriously, I don't even speed!), but when I see a police officer, I don't feel comfortable. If I am in a situation that requires police presence, I don't know if I will receive fair dealing- though much of that applies more to the legal system in general. Put simply, there is a loss of trust.

The Us-Versus-Them feeling that has arisen between the governors and the governed is spilling over into regular life. I'm not happy with that at all.

As a conservative, I want to conserve the previous better relationship.

Bruce,

I understand your anger, but I'd like to address a few of your points:

"But if you guys are true to your beliefs, next time you are in trouble, have the integrity and do NOT call 911..."

If anyone were to do that on this site, they would end up in jail, and for much longer sentences than the average criminal would receive. There's a gentleman in Ontario who is in deep trouble at the moment for using his revolver to scare off some firebombers.

"As for me, I am well trained, and well armed."

That is an absolutely frightening statement, and one that the average citizen would be in hot water for making. I hope I never encounter you in real life.

Now, having said that, I see where your anger is coming from. I think some very intemperate statements have been made above, and they don't accurately reflect on the behavior of you or the majority of your fellow officers.

Tenebris,

I don't believe that the commenters above have some innate feeling that people are naturally good. Quite the contrary- I suspect they feel that not only is human behavior quite atrocious, but that that bad behavior is not confined to the criminal class.

""As for me, I am well trained, and well armed."

That is an absolutely frightening statement, and one that the average citizen would be in hot water for making. I hope I never encounter you in real life."

A Nobody- Ya, right, until you're faced with a life-threatening situation. Then you'll be so happy to see a well armed, well trained neighbour. It's unreasonable to be afraid of someone, simply because he's strong and unafraid. Personally, I never feel more secure than when I'm surrounded by armed citizens. A bunch of cops, not so much.

A Nobody:

Let me reassure you. I am not angry. I spent 30 years as a police officer, and then another 10 year as a PI. In all of those years, I have resisted the temptation to get angry...anger solves nothing.

The impetus of my post was not anger,it was disappointment with the expressed comments.

My reference to being "armed" was a response to the comments of others who apparently felt that they had nothing to gain from calling the police. My point was, if not that, then have the fortitude to take care of yourself. And in that case, as I expressed, I am prepared.

But the notion that I would ever use deadly force in a situation other than to protect the lives of my family is incomprehensible.

You and others have nothing to fear from me...as I indicated, I have been well-trained, hence, I am a responsible person with a clear vision as to the legitimate rights of others, and knowledge as to the rare occasions when the use of force is required.

I wouldn't want to be a cop

but the letter writer and BRUCE certainly need a little eye opening, both had a choice and choose, live with it

(BTW, Bruce, I'd be more than happy to instruct you on the proper use of a side arm)

there are too many cops with "attitudes", and use their position to "bully", and this is a failing in management and due to too powerfull unions. That problem needs to be addressed politically.

"As for me, I am well trained, and well armed."

Hey Bruce, if I said the same wouldn't you be knocking on my door? God help the poor sod who actually defends himself as you imply you will do. Just try to get a gun license if you say you want the gun for self defence! Hah! That ain't happening and you bloody well know it. That's what makes your kind a hypocrite. I have a relative who has seen as bad or worse than you but he hasn't been stuck in the uniform for that long (that's kinda sad, dude). He is well armed, too, and he tells me how to be well armed. Too bad it is so damnably hard in the Canada we have today. I don't blame you, Bruce, but neither are you the fix. You were a cog in the wheel that let it get to the point where we must depend on people like you even when we know that when we need you, you won't be there.

Bruce,

Thank-you for the clarification. I believe I misunderstood your comment on training.

Coach,

My comment was based on a misunderstanding of Bruce's message. I agree with you that having a trained and armed neighbor is a good thing to have.

When I was a kid, I lived in a good neighborhood that was near several bad ones. A crack deal went bad, and this led to a number of angry men deciding to raise havoc. This was stopped when one of our neighbors who was a former big game hunter used his hunting arm to detain them. Apparently rifles in the roughly 40 caliber or greater range have a calming effect. Who knew?

"(BTW, Bruce, I'd be more than happy to instruct you on the proper use of a side arm)"

Geee thanks for the offer, but having carried a sidearm for 30 years, passed each year the firearms proficiency tests (got crossed revolvers on each occasion, oh, and if you do not know what that means, then you do not know what you are talking about).

Added to that, the fact that I had the unfortunate experience of actually using my sidearm in a number of occasions in real life experiences.

So tks for the offer...but......Heh.

Of course cops,soldiers and others are paid to do what they do. Of course they follow orders. What does anyone else do? The difference is, unlike so many of the dweebs commenting in this string, they actually do put themselves in danger--for you and me! It's easy for pencil pushers to criticize people who are actually on the front lines.

In all of the years I've been reading this blog I've never seen so many fatuous, infantile comments.

I agree with much of what lookout and A Nobody have to say. Lookout, it is not the police who are failing us, it is the political leadership.

I think this thread went a little off the rails and while police like us do make mistakes they have to take orders from political leaders who have corrupted and subverted the legal system with what I do not have the words to adequately describe.

The vast majority of police and military personnel want to do the job of defending Canada's citizens.

A man defending his home from thugs should not be in more trouble than the thugs. This is not justice, it is a travesty.

The problems at Caledonia did an awful lot to create certain attitudes. Caledonia is not a failure of the the police, but a failure of the political bosses who have created the system.

The police in Soviet Russia were at war with the citizens and hopefully we do not descend to that.

BTW, while in the military I had the pleasure of being a participant in an annual pistol shoot for about eight years. The participants were from the Ontario Provincial Police, the RCMP and the local artillery and infantry regiments. The RCMP always got the prize. The winners and losers always went back to our mess for a couple of cold ones and to toast the victors and vanquished.